Essays and Articles on the Social Art of Architecture

The essays and articles below by "seasoned" thinkers provide a unique on-line resource for study. When these thoughts are read in combination with winning student essays, it is more then abundantly clear the scope and importance of the fact that architecture is a social art.

ESSAYS

Each year the Berkeley Prize Committee invites a distinguished professor or scholar in the field of architecture or the related social sciences to write about some aspect of the year's Berkeley Prize topic.

These essays serve several purposes:

They are meant to help focus students' thoughts on the issues surrounding the year's Question.

They are a model for excellence in writing.

They exhibit both how defined and how broad the range of possible response to a Question.

ARTICLES

Articles of interest to those concerned with the social art of architecture from the general press are posted periodically on the BERKELEY PRIZE Facebook page. The growing number of these articles attest to the fact that there is now more public discussion (and more in-depth discussion) about the role of architecture in the social and cultural life of the world's population.

Read about the current Venice Architecture Biennale and its theme of "Common Ground" that explores the relationship between construction and society and, as a result, the architect and society."Construction and Society"

From the current issue of ARCHITECT magazine, published in the United States in association with the American Institute of Architects, a few words about the future of architectural discussion by the architectural critic for the NEW YORK TIMES that reinforces the idea that architecture is, ultimately, a social art. "Social Agent/Expanding Architecture's Discourse"

Jargon interferes with our appreciation of the art that has perhaps the most impact on us. "Why don't we read about architecture?" is the question asked by Allison Arieff in this recent online opinion piece - and yearly by the BERKELEY PRIZE. Arieff argues that jargon interferes with our appreciation of the art that has perhaps the most impact on us. (From the New York Times Opinionator blog). "Why Don't We Read About Architecture"

The Curry Stone Design Prize was created to recognize that designers can be a force for improving people's lives. Read about this year's winners from around the world and how the prize not only rewards ingenuity, but it is also rewarding bottom up social change. (From Huffington Post's IMPACT internet newspaper)
"Curry Stone Design Prize: Design with a Mission."

The exhibition "Design with the Other 90%: CITIES," organized by the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, is currently on display through January 12, 2012 at the United Nations in New York City. Curator Cynthia Smith's in-depth assessment, adapted from her catalogue essay, of the research that took her to Asia, Africa and Latin America explores innovations in humanitarian design and describes how she found many examples of hybrid solutions that work "to bridge the formal and informal city" and to make the planet's rapidly growing cities "more just and humane." (From DESIGN OBSERVER, 10.20.11) . Read a review of this survey of Design for the Public Good from around the world in the New York Times.

In a shift from a time when New York City hired only the lowest bidders for civic projects, dozens of new city buildings have been designed by gifted architects...for the public good.
"New York's Public Architecture gets a Facelift"

One of the best summaries of the state of humanitarian design today, part of ARCHITECT magazine's September 2011 issue on Natural Disasters: Architecture to the Rescue."Altruism, Architecture & Disaster"

Read about this United Nations effort to tie colleges around the world together in the pursuit of, among other ideals, the organization's Millenium Development Goals. These precepts provide a foundation for the social art of architecture.The United Nations Academic Impact initiative

Read about an architect who has gained international fame by thinking about design in its essence as first a social art.
"The Ascension of Peter Zumthor"

From one of the United States' premiere intellectual journals, an article about the need for more skyscrapers that barely addresses the issues of the day-to-day lives of all those who would be asked to call these new structures 'home'.
"How Skyscrapers Can Save the City"

Mad Men, the critically-acclaimed United State's television series, is more than just a period piece about Madison Avenue, New York in the 1960s. The social art of architecture hits the airwaves!
"In 'Mad Men,' fewer places to hide"

For permission for any form of re-use of any of the contents, please contact info@berkeleyprize.org.The BERKELEY PRIZE is endorsed by the Department of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley.